Free Amish Treasures of the Heart by Sophia Grace Page B

finish the jobs she’d delegated to him while she would be gone. He intended to finish everything she asked of him, and he’d do it as professionally as if he was a real hired hand.
    When he finished mucking the stalls, Jake went to work in Ellie’s kitchen garden, pulling weeds and hoeing between the rows. Then, he picked up the colander from the grass where she’d set it, and began to pick the string beans. He’d never seen such healthy plants, and he intended to ask her what her secret was. Jake had tried to grow tomatoes on the fire escape of their Brownstone in New York, but his father had told him the plant died because it lacked one ingredient you just can’t get in the city, but he never did tell Jake what that ingredient was.
    When Ellie returned, Jake had settled himself onto the porch swing, and had busied himself snapping the beans while he pushed the swing gently with his foot. He’d sat there daydreaming so long about how it might feel to sit there with Ellie at night and watch the stars, that she’d managed to return home before he barely had a chance to snap even a few of those beans.
    Ellie stepped up onto the porch with a plastic shopping bag hanging from each arm.
    Jake rose to his feet and held a hand out to the bags. “Let me help you with those,” he offered.
    She pulled away gently. “I’ve gotten them this far,” she said. “ Danki, but your services are needed more for finishing up those beans. I’ll need them soon enough for dinner.”
    He sat back down just as a truck pulled into the drive, and Jake assumed they were the hired hands. He stood, colander in hand, and immediately felt a little intimidated by their appearance. They were around the same age as Jake and Ellie, but they were clearly more muscular than Jake. Their confident swagger as they stepped up to the porch and tipped their hats toward Ellie would indicate they knew their way around a farm. Both men allowed their eyes to trail over Ellie’s figure, and it made Jake angry that they could be so disrespectful.
    These men were going to be trouble, he could already tell.
    He watched as Ellie greeted them, and they were obvious about their immediate attraction to her. The way they gawked and practically drooled made him realize he would have to stick around just to keep an eye on the two of them. He wasn’t exactly jealous of them, but a little intimidated, if anything. He wanted to help Ellie work on her farm as a means to prove he was capable of holding his own on the farm, and was qualified to step into a more important role in her life . How would he do that now with these experienced, flirtatious farmhands getting in his way?
    Jake’s heart beat a little faster at his realization.
    The only advantage he might have over these strong, hired hands was that he was part Amish. But how far did he really want to take things with Ellie? Was he considering a commitment? He already cared for her a great deal, and over the last couple of weeks since he’d first met her, he’d found himself falling in love with her.
    Ellie directed the men to the field. “I’m going to need you to take the tractor out to the cornfield and till between the rows; the weeds are getting out of control with all the rain we’ve had. The north field needs to be hay-mowed. You’ll need to spread the pesticide granules this week too. Those are the most pressing things on the list; you can do them in whatever order you want, as long as it all gets done by Friday.”
    They both nodded politely.
    Jake handed Ellie the colander of string beans and greeted the farmhands with the firmest handshake he could muster.
    “Now that you’re here, let’s get to work, shall we?” Jake said to Jackson and Will, as if he was their boss instead of Ellie. He didn’t like the idea of Ellie being in the role of boss over a couple of flirtatious men. He wanted to direct the farm hands since he’d been brought up in such a way that men conducted business with men,